11/5/2018
If you’re a mom of younger children, then you more than likely know the horror that is group A Streptococcal Pharyngitis, or strep throat.
To this point you’ve strapped the to-go mini bottles of hand sanitizer to your child’s jacket, their lunch box and their book bag (all of which have gone unnoticed as they continue to be completely full, day after day), you’ve warned of the horrors that could happen if they eat or drink after anyone else and you’ve even considered making a medical mask and latex gloves part of their daily outfit before sending them to school.
But all precautions, prayers and rain dances to the gods have been to no avail as one night at dinner your 5-year-old (who is afraid of the doctor and terrified of shots) tells you his throat is tickling, and he can’t swallow his food.
You make the long walk to the flashlight and back again.
“Say ahhh ...”
“Ahhh”
“No, not that way! You have to put your tongue down! I can’t see anything.”
Exasperated, you go to find one of the craft sticks you got for the kids months ago to make yet another craft that cost over $50 in supplies and took under five minutes to make.
And then it’s craft stick on the tongue, followed by gagging — by both you and your child — as your worst fears are confirmed with a showing of white blisters on their tonsils.
Yep.
Probably strep.
Dr. Christopher Dietz, area medical director of MedExpress, said strep throat is spread easily through tiny droplets found in the air and on commonly-touched surfaces. Sneezing or coughing are the most common ways to spread the infection.
“Similar to many other winter illnesses, one of the simplest ways to ward off strep throat germs is by washing your hands thoroughly and frequently,” he said.
“Keep alcohol-based hand sanitizer nearby for when you can’t wash your hands right away. It’s also a great idea to cover your mouth when you cough or sneeze — reach for a tissue or aim for the crook of your arm. And this time of year, it’s a good idea to avoid sharing your things, including water bottles, pens and utensils.”
Amy Dillon, nurse practitioner at Pediatric Associates of Westmoreland’s Connellsville office, said the hard part with the streptococcal germ is that it’s a bacteria and can be contracted over and over.
“A lot of viruses give you a long-term or lifetime immunity such as chicken pox, but strep is a bacteria that does not give long-term immunity. It is cured with antibiotics, but the potential to be reinfected is always there,” she said.
Dietz said it’s not unusual for strep throat to occur frequently in some more than others.
“Some people, for example, may respond better to antibiotics than others,” he said. “It may also have to do with the fact that some people may have weaker immune systems — whether it’s due to stress, lack of sleep or not making those healthy habits part of their normal routine.”
Dillon added that some kids are just more susceptible to strep just as some kids are more susceptible to ear infections.
“Some of the reasons why we see more kids with it is due to antibiotic resistance and noncompliance in taking antibiotics when originally prescribed.”
Failure to finish up the entire prescribed dosage can be a factor in the streptococcal building up a resistance to that particular antibiotic.
Another way to keep from contracting it again is something simple that a lot of people overlook.
“I also recommend that my patients throw out or disinfect their toothbrushes after they’ve had a bout of strep so that they don’t reintroduce those germs to their system again.”
Dillon said one of the fastest way to eradicate strep is with antibiotics such as penicillin.
Dietz also recommends staying well-hydrated, getting plenty of rest and sleep, and gargling warm salt water several times a day, which helps kill the germs.
If strep throat is left untreated, it can lead to rheumatic fever, which can damage the heart, and can also cause post-strep glomerulonephritis which can cause kidney damage.
“A healthy individual’s immune system could fight off strep, but because of the widespread availability of penicillin and the potential for long-term heart and kidney damage, most providers will treat if testing positive,” Dillon said.
If a child gets strep throat a number of times in one season, the parents might want to look into the possibility of a tonsillectomy.
Dr. Matthew Oliverio, an ear, nose and throat specialist in Uniontown, said the guidelines from the American Academy of Otolaryngology/Head & Neck suggest that a child should have seven episodes of pharyngitis in the past year, five or more episodes per year for the past two years or three or more episodes per year for the past three years.
“The tonsils are lined with pockets that extend deep into the tonsil that can harbor debris and bacteria, and this is why they commonly become infected and can lead to abscess,” he said. “Once the tonsils become chronically infected, they no longer function adequately. This leads to recurrent throat infections”
Oliverio said it is best to keep your tonsils as long as possible when they are functioning properly.
“The tonsils are lymphoid tissue that are primarily involved with inducing secretory immunity and regulating immunoglobulin production — in other words, they help to fight infection,” he said.
Courtesy of HeraldStandard.com. Original article can be read here.